Egyptian court issues death sentence to man who murdered Coptic alcohol store owner

Jardine Malado Wednesday, February 08, 2017

Members of the special police forces stand guard to secure the area around St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral after an explosion inside the cathedral in Cairo, Egypt December 11, 2016. | Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

The Alexandria Criminal Court sentenced a man to death for the murder of a Coptic Christian shopkeeper last month.

The defendant, Adel Soliman, received the preliminary death sentence on Sunday after two consecutive court sessions. The verdict was handed over to the Grand Mufti for consultation, and the final sentence will be announced on March 9, according to Daily News Egypt.

Soliman was arrested two days after a video of the attack went viral on social media in January. The footage showed a bearded man approaching liquor store owner Youssef Lamei from behind before slitting his throat with a knife.

Investigators said that Soliman confessed to the crime after viewing the footage of the incident, Ahram Online reported. He said that he had warned Lamei against selling alcohol several times, but the shopkeeper continued to do so.

Lamei's son, Tony Youssef, said that the defendant threatened to kill him and other Copts during the trial because "he hates them." Tony also noted that Soliman admitted committing the crime based on the extremist religious decrees he heard on television.

Tony stated last month that his father had a license to sell alcohol and had operated the store for almost 40 years.

In an interview with World Watch Monitor, Tony revealed that his father had been visited by conservative clerics, who asked him not to sell alcohol during Ramadan. He said that Lamei agreed to close his shop for a whole month.

"They then asked him not to sell alcohol during the daily five Muslim prayer times; he also obeyed them, to avoid any trouble they might cause," he said.

Lamei's brother, Nasef, expressed his belief that the attack was planned because the killer had visited the shop several times before he committed the crime, and he knew the spot where the victim used to sit.

Tony contended that his father was targeted because of his faith, as there were other shops in Alexandria that sold alcohol.

"There is a shop nearby that sells alcohol and is owned by a Muslim man. Why they didn't kill this man as well?" he said. "My father was a very kind and respected man and everybody loved him; he had no enemies," he added.